The use of crushing devices for crushing ore and other construction material has been well known for many years. Currently, two types of cone crushing devices are commonly utilized. The first is an inertia cone crusher as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,245,791 to IVANOV, ET AL.; and 4,452,401, 4,592,517 and 4,655,405 to ZAROGATSKY. ET AL. Inertia cone crushers generally comprise a crushing bowl having an inner breaking cone disposed therein in a manner defining an annular breaking cavity. The breaking cone is typically mounted on a spherical support that, along with the crushing bowl, is secured to the crusher base. Additionally, the breaking cone includes a downwardly extending shaft seated in a bearing bush which is provided with an unbalanced weight on the outer surface thereof. In operation, the inclusion of the unbalanced mass on the outer surface of the shaft causes the breaking cone to gyrate relative an outer cone disposed within the crushing bowl so as to conduct a crushing operation.
The second type of commonly used crushing device is a gyratory cone crusher Examples of gyratory cone crushers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,550,098 to TRAYLOR; 4,568,031 to MITROFANOV, ET AL.; 4,589,600 to SCHUMAN; and 4,679,741 to HANSEN. The gyratory cone crushers typically comprise a rotating eccentric member supported within a crusher base via a plurality of bearing assemblies. Attached to the crusher base is a bowl assembly which includes a stationary crushing cone disposed therein. A crusher head is interfaced to the eccentric member in a manner wherein a crushing cone attached to the crusher head will gyrate relative the stationary crushing cone during rotation of the eccentric member.
With particular respect to currently-known gyratory cone crushing devices, though these crushing devices are generally suitable for conducting ore and construction material crushing operations, they possess certain inherent deficiencies which detract from their overall utility. One such deficiency relates to the drive mechanism typically associated with existing gyratory crushers. In this respect, gear and pinion assemblies are often used to interface the drive motor to the eccentric member for purposes of rotating the eccentric member. As will be recognized, these gear and pinion assemblies are susceptible to high amounts of mechanical loss and wear. Additionally, many prior art gyratory crushers incorporate numerous bearing assemblies to interface the crusher head assembly to the eccentric member and the eccentric member to the drive motor. Such bearing assemblies, due to their complexity, are prone to failure and therefore require high levels of maintenance. Additionally, these bearing assemblies add to the expense and complexity associated with the manufacture of the crushing device. Another deficiency relates to the manner in which existing gyratory crushers facilitate spacial adjustment between the crushing plates. In this respect, existing gyratory crushers generally require the placement of shims between the base and bowl assemblies of the crusher or the utilization of hydraulic systems to maintain pressure against threads of a threaded mechanism which is used to secure the bowl assembly to the base. As with the bearing, gear and countershaft assemblies, the use of these adjustment methods add significant expense and complexity to the manufacture of the device. The present invention overcomes these and other deficiencies associated with the prior art gyratory cone crushing devices.